Living a New Life
by Ressei
Summary: This is what I believe that happened after the Deathly Hallows, their last year in Hogwarts, their works, marriage, kids. Focusing on couples development, a little bit more on Harry/Ginny. Rated M for sexual content on later chapters.
1. Dawn of a New Era

**CHAPTER 01 – DAWN OF A NEW ERA**

The three friends left Dumbledore's room and started walking their way to the great hall. A few steps latter, Harry stopped. Tears started to fall from his green eyes. Ron and Hermione noticed that Harry wasn't keeping up with them and turned around.

"Harry?" asked Hermione. Harry stood still, trying to say something, but the words wouldn't leave his mouth. After some very silent seconds, he said.

"Ron… Hermione… thank you. For everything."

Hermione ran to his friend and have him a big hug, tears falling from her eyes too. Ron came right after her. No words had to be said.

"Harry…" Hermione said, breaking the hug "what do you plan to do right now? I'm pretty sure everyone at Hogwarts wants an explanation about the events that just happened. I mean, you can't just kill Voldemort and expect everybody to leave you alone…"

Hermione had a point. Harry wasn't really prepared to talk about everything. Not just yet.

"Now, I just want to sleep. I don't want to run away from this, but I don't want to talk about it now. It seems easy to just say a bunch of words, then shout a spell, watch it backfire Voldemort's own spell and kill him and, although I was confident, I was also as afraid as you were."

"We understand it mate." said Ron. "If I were in your place, I would just want to get some rest after all this."

Then, somebody appeared on the other side of the corridor where Dumbledore's room was.

"Mr. Potter. Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Granger. Would you three please follow me to the Great Hall?" McGonagall asked.

"What's wrong professor?" asked Hermione, a little afraid that Harry wouldn't get his desired rest.

"Don't worry, you three are not going to talk at all. I promise. We are all tired, but Kingsley and I have to say some final words before we all sleep."

With that in mind, the trio followed her to the Great Hall, where McGonagall asked them to sit in the Gryffindor table. Harry didn't like that idea, as every eye in the room seemed to follow him. But Kingsley quickly caught everybody's attention when he stood up from the teacher's table.

"My friends," started Kingsley "as some of you know, I've been elected temporary Minister of Magic just during these hard times. But it turns out these hard times have ended, thanks to all of you. You have the sincerest gratitude from the Minister of Magic for everything you have done to our world today. Some of us died in the process but I'm sure they did it so that we could explode in happiness when we saw the Dark Lord fall dead. Now, I'm sure McGonagall has some words to say too."

"Thank you minister. Students of Hogwarts, I can't thank you enough. The school is in a really bad shape, but, if it wasn't for you, I believe it would be totally destroyed by now. Today you showed to have more courage than most brilliant wizards out there and this school is never going to forget that."

"Now, I believe we are all tired. Everyone is welcome to sleep here tonight. Students can go to their common rooms and non-students will sleep here in the Great Halls in conjured beds. I'll be giving more news tomorrow. Good night."

With that, everybody stood up and started moving. Harry, once again, put on the Invisibility Cloak to avoid conversation and got to the Gryffindor common room before everyone else (with the help of some of the Marauder's Map shortcuts) and got into his bedroom and into his bed. He didn't sleep though.

He still couldn't believe Voldemort was gone. He was free, at last. The whole world was free. He won the battle. He, Ron and Hermione destroyed all the Horcruxes (with a little help from Neville, of course). He could finally have a normal life. He could finally have peace. He could finally be with his loved girl once again.

A knock in the bedroom's door brought Harry back to life.

"Harry?"

"I'm here Ron. Come in."

Ron entered the room, followed by Neville, Dean and Seamus.

"Don't worry," Neville said, noticing Harry flinching by the sight of his other roommates "we are too tired to ask you anything. Besides, we don't feel like forcing you to talk about it if you don't want."

"T-thanks…", Harry said. "But let me tell you, that was a great job, killing Nagini."

"Nagini? Who's Nagini?"

"The snake. I'll explain later, ok?"

"Fine."

And, with that, the five friends fall asleep.

**********

As soon as Harry's eyes closed, he felt somebody knocking him with a pillow.

"Wake up!"

"What the.." and another pillow hit him.

"Come on Harry, I'm starving! We better get moving or we'll miss breakfast."

Then, Harry realized. It was another day already. It seemed to him that everything was a dream coming true, he wasn't completely over the facts that happened the night before. Ron noticed that in Harry's expression and smiled.

"You still don't believe it, do you?"

"I do. But it's just too good to be true, you know. You have no idea how it feels to finally end it."

"Well, it's not over yet. I bet there will me a lot of reporters dying to ask you tons of questions."

Harry started laughing. It was indeed too good to be true.

"Hey, yesterday you almost hide yourself under the bed when Neville and the other appeared in the room, worrying that they were going to ask you questions. Now, not only there may be far more than three people, but they are going to tell the whole world everything you tell them!"

"Think about it Ron: exactly 24 hours ago, what was our main problem?"

"Find and destroy all the Horcruxes."

"Right. Now my biggest problem is to deal with a bunch of reporters!" Harry was jumping with a big smile. "I mean, not that I'm telling them everything if they are really there, but it's much easier to deal with it."

"Yes, you really have a point there. Now, can we get some food or what?"

"Yes. I'm starving too, I barely ate yesterday at the feast. I just want to ask you a question before we go."

"Go ahead then."

"I've been thinking for some minutes before sleeping last night… about…" Harry hesitated…

"Ginny?" Ron asked.

"Y-yes…"

"Well, there's nothing I can do right? You should have seen her when she thought you were dead."

"How was she?" Harry asked.

"You'll have to ask her that. I could just tell that I never saw her that sad." Ron's stomach cried "Now, shall we go?"

As soon as the boys left the room, Hermione jumped to them.

"Hi you two!" she kissed Ron in the mouth and then hugged Harry like an older sister. "Are you alright Harry?"

"I'm fine but… what did I just saw here?"

"Ah, that…" Hermione started… "let's get going, we'll tell you on the way to the Great Hall."

**********

"I'm going ahead. See you two tomorrow, good night." Said Harry, with the Invisibility Cloak already on.

"I guess he's taking that 'No Questions' policy really serious." Ron said.

"Come on Ron, live him alone for now!" Hermione said, already walking with Ron to the common room slowly. She didn't notice, but he was holding her hand.

"Hey Hermione, mind taking another path to the common room?"

"No, but why?"

"N-nothing… just come with me, ok?"

"Fine."

Just as they left the crowd, Hermione noticed her hand in Ron's and blushed. She didn't remove her hand though.

A couple minutes later, they were in the Prefects bathroom corridor, where Ron stopped. Hermione stopped in front on him and was about to ask what they where doing there when Ron kissed her passionately. Hermione was caught off-guard by that, but simply replied to the kiss. When they finally stopped, Ron started:

"Good think you answered the kiss. I was afraid that kiss in the Room of Requirement was a dream. A very good dream by the way."

Hermione laughed.

"You're so dumb, you know that?" she said that hugging him.

"Now", Ron said with some tears falling in Hermione's ear "it's time for a man to start correcting some mistakes a certain boy made in the last years."

Tears of joy and happiness fell from Hermione's eyes. She couldn't believe it. The man she loved was finally with her. She noticed all over the ear that Ron was been specially gentle with her but she couldn't really understand why. Then, he left her and Harry when they needed him the most and, although he came back, she was still confused with Ron's strange behavior. Then, at Malfoy's Manor, when she was being tortured by Bellatrix, she could hear a distant voice calling her name, but she couldn't tell whose voice it was. And when she finally woke up, he was there, crying, begging for her to stay with him.

After that, she started to like him even more. She now had a proof that Ron really cared for her. But, in a normal situation, he wouldn't show it. She was scared to do something that would scare him even more. But, when Ron mentioned the house elves in the Room of Requirement, she couldn't take it: she just loved that man. Too bad there was a war going on outside that room.

"I'm sorry for not inviting you to come to the Yule Ball with me." Ron started, after another kiss. "I was an idiot that time, I wasn't sure how I felt about you, I had that crush on Fleur that didn't allow me to 'notice you were a girl' and, finally, Krum made me focus on getting him away from you instead of making me get close to you faster. Can you forgive that boy with 'the emotional range of a teaspoon'?"

Hermione kissed him again.

"I love you."

"I love you too Hermione." She smiled. "I finally realized that in Malfoy Manor, when…" she stopped him.

"You don't need to say anything now. I know it's hard for a teaspoon to express feelings" Ron laughed at that "so you don't need to say it now if you want. I've heard what I wanted to hear, thank you very much!"

Ron smiled. She was just wonderful. She understood him more than anyone in the world. He never talked with anybody about how he felt in Malfoy Manor when Hermione was being tortured, not even with Harry and, yet, she knew it would destroy him, even though she was there, right in his arms.

They kissed once again, cleaned the tears from their faces and headed back to Gryffindor's common room, holding hands and with the most wonderful feeling a human being can feel: love.

**********

"Oh my!" Harry gasped "That is some news!"

"Yeah, yeah, right" said a very blushed Ron – Hermione told Harry everything alone. "Now Harry, what are you planning to do with my little sister?"

"I certainly don't have a plan like you had Ron. But don't worry, I'll figure it out soon."

When they arrived at the Great Hall, only a few Hufflepuff students were finishing breakfeast. And, to Harry's great relief, there was not a single reporter, not a single camera. As they sat down on the Griffyndor table to eat, Neville appeared.

"Hello you three. Are you guys okay?"

"Yes, thank you Neville!" said Hermione. As she answered that, she found Ron's hand under the table, held it and thought she couldn't be any better.

"Neville, did McGonagall say something before breakfast?" Harry asked "She said she was going to give us some news…"

"No. She only said that everyone should stay for tonight's feast. First because it's going to be like the feasts of the first and last day of school. Second because those news are going to be told after the feast. She said the feast would start at eight o'clock precisely."

"I see. Well, we have a free day then." Harry said.

"Have you seen my family Neville?" Ron asked.

Just as he asked this, Harry and Hermione remembered: Fred died. Harry couldn't help himself with thinking it was his fault that Fred died.

"Everyone but Ginny and George are at your home." Neville said, interrupting the silence "That's why I came here, they left you three a message with me." Neville got a piece of parchment out of a pocket and handed it to Ron, that recognized the handwriting as Percy's and read it to the four of them.

_Dear Harry, Ron and Hermione_

_When you three wake up, we'll be at the Burrow, except for Ginny and George. Arthur, Bill and Charlie are helping Kingsley cover the news of yesterday: the Battle of Hogwarts, as the ministry called the events of yesterday, are in every single newspaper. Of course, the only true part of the news is that You-Know-Who is dead and that Harry Potter killed him. How it was done though is all speculation._

_I myself am charged of visiting every single family of the people that died yesterday to tell them of the bad news and to invite them to the feast of today. It's a bad work, I know, but it has to be done._

_And there's Mom. She's still very sad (we all are in fact, but she shows it more than us) about Fred's death and she's making sure Fred's body is okay for some time until we make him a proper funeral. She also had me write in here a special note to Harry: "Harry dear, we don't blame you. We are very proud of you and also very proud of Fred. He died fighting for a better world, fighting for a future where the next generations could live in peace."_

_We are all coming to the feast, so see you there._

_Percy._

"Do you know where George and Ginny are Neville?" Ron asked, worried about his brother and his sister.

"I saw Ginny outside after breakfast Ron. As for George… McGonagall said he ate breakfast at the Burrow, came back through her fireplace and no one saw him since then."

"Thank you Neville. I'm going after them when we finish here."

"Ah, Harry…" Neville asked, a little embarrassed "I know you don't really want to talk about it, but can you tell me a little more about that snake? Nagini, right?"

"Yes. Let's just say that, if you haven't killed Nagini, Voldemort wouldn't be dead."

"Merlin's Pants! This is big then! Thank you Harry!"

"Thank you Neville. I'll explain the whole story for you sometime. This is a promise. For everything you did for the Dumbledore's Army and for me, you deserve to know the truth about everything."

"Now that is something I wasn't expecting! Thanks a lot!" Neville hugged Harry "Now I need to go. I'm helping Prof. Sprout with the plants, putting them back on the greenhouses. See you three at the feast!"

Fifteen minutes later, they finished breakfast and Ron went with Hermione in search of George. Harry went to find Ginny.

According to Neville, Ginny has outside. Where, he didn't know. He decided just to walk, hoping to find her on the way. He remembered their first kiss, when he came back from Snape's detention and learned that Gryffindor won the final match against Ravenclaw and, consequently, the House Cup. There, they spontaneously kissed. He remembered the exact feeling. She just made him forget every single problem of his life in those precious seconds. There was no detention. There was no exam. There was no Snape. There were no Death Eathers. There were no prophecies. There was no Voldemort. There was just him and Ginny, united together in their lips, that Harry wished to feel once again.

Just as Harry came back from his thoughts, he saw he was by the lake. It was calm, the wind was making small waves on the water's surface and the sky was in a perfect blue. But Harry didn't notice any of this. Instead, his eyes sighted a redhead girl on the other side of the lake, in school robes. She was on her feet, her face looking to the sky. Harry found small rock near him and threw it far, to the other side of the lake. The rock fell inside the lake, near Ginny and the sound told her she wasn't alone anymore.

And she saw him. The boy she loved. The boy she missed the hole year. The boy she wanted to be with her at that very moment. In school robes, his untamed hair following the wind's direction and his scar in his forehead. When she looked at him, he was already looking at her with a big smile at his face.

She started running beside the lake. Harry did the same, running towards her. It seemed they were miles away. Those ten seconds seemed like forever in Harry's mind. He couldn't wait anymore. He needed to hold her, hug her, kiss her, tell her how she was important to him. Tell how he felt when he saw her from the invisibility cloak, thinking that it would be the last time he would see her. Tell how he looked at the Marauder's Map every night to see if she was alright.

And they finally met at the middle of the run. An enormous hug followed by a long and waited kiss was all that happened in Harry's mind in the next couple of minutes. No explanation was really necessary, he just knew it. He was with her, all those feelings were back, stronger than before. He knews that he could spend the rest of his life with her. Then, he cut the kiss, crying a little bit:

"I'm never ever leaving you again. I'm killing Voldemort again if this is what it takes to be with you."

"I'll take that as a 'Yes, my quest is over' ". They laughed.

"Ginny, I love you. I just know I felt lonely every night, apparating from one place to another and having only the Marauder's Map to check that you were alright."

"I love you too Harry. Merlin knows what I felt when I thought you were dead." And she hit him in the shoulder "Why did you do that to me?"

"That's not the time to talk about this." And he kissed her once again.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

This is my first fan fic ever. Hope I did well. Review, please! A beta-reader would be nice too... New chapters are coming soon, I hope.


	2. The Legacy of the War

**CHAPTER 02 – THE LEGACY OF THE WAR**

"Hey, I just remembered, have you seen George?" Harry asked, cutting the kiss "McGonagall said he came back from the Burrow through her fireplace and was not seen since then."

"No. That reminds me, where's my family?"

Harry told her about the letter Neville gave to him, Ron and Hermione.

"I see. I think we better find him before he does anything stupid."

"You're right. After breakfast Ron and Hermione went to find him so I guess we should find them to see if George's with them."

They went on back to the castle. Ron and Hermione were waiting in the Great Hall.

"Ginny! Are you alright?" Ron asked, as soon as his sister appeared in the Hall.

"Yes Ron, thank you. Harry found me by the lake." Ron looked at Harry at this moment and his friend blinked to him. "You two found George?"

"No" Hermione replied "We looked everywhere inside the castle. Gryffindor's common room, kitchens, bathrooms, library... have you two checked the Quidditch field?"

"I was there before going to the lake, there was no one there and no one near Hagrid's house and the forbidden forest." Ginny said.

Harry then had an idea.

"Hermione, have you checked the Room of Requirement?"

"No. But why would George be there?"

"I know exactly how he feels right now. When Sirius died it was like a part of me was gone. I thought the time I spent with him was not spent well, I wanted to be with him , tell him of my fears, my plans for the future… since my parents died, he was my father you know?"

"I get it! George is missing his brother, he wants Fred to be right beside him, to say some final words, to say a last joke… the Room of Requirement can help him a little! C'mon, let's go!"

And there they went. When they arrived at the door, they all thought "I need to find George!" and soon they saw themselves in a room that was like the twins' room in the Burrow, but a lot bigger: two beds of the same size where in the very middle of the room, with a distance of one meter of each other. One with a big F and the other with a big G. A lot of pictures of Fred – alone, with his twin, with his family, with his mother, with the Quidditch team – were in the wall. Two gryffindor quidditch robes, along with two bats and two broomsticks, and a red sweater with a big F, which Harry recognized as the same sweater Mrs. Weasley makes at Christmas, where inside of an already open closet and, near the door, there were some already open boxes with things from the Weasley Wizard Wheezes. And, in the bed with the big F, was George.

He was not crying, not when Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione entered the room. He was looking to the wall to the other side and, thus, didn't notice the group enter. Some seconds of silence succeeded, as everyone looked at how the room adjusted to George's desire. Ginny then broke the silence by running to his brother:

"George! Are you alright?"

Only when Ginny hugged him that George noticed he wasn't alone anymore. He hugged her sister back and noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione near the door.

"Hello Ginny… and… you three…"

As George looked at the trio, Harry noticed that eyes were red, the red hair was worse than his would ever be and his expression was clear enough: he was feeling lonely, more than he thought he would be. Ron was specially shocked: not even his mother was in this state. He couldn't help a tear fall from his eyes.

"George!" Ron went to hug his brother "Are you alright? We were worried about you, no one saw you ever since you returned from McGonagall's fireplace!"

"Ron's right George, don't you ever do that again!" Ginny said, looking like a miniature of her mother complaining to her son.

Hermione and Harry then approached George, hugged him and sat down on the other bed, with the G.

"So" Hermione started "you want to talk about it with us?"

"I… I don't know… it hurts just to listen to the name…"

"Let him be Hermione. Remember how I was with Sirius when he died?" Harry said.

"Yes. You always avoided it."

"Yes. Losing someone in a battle is pretty damn difficult. It's more difficult than understanding how the mind of a girl works!" George smiled at this.

"You're right Harry, understanding girls seems like a piece of cake now…"

"I know exactly how you're feeling George. When we go to the field of battle to fight for what we believe is right, to fight for a better world, we know the risks, we fear for the worst, but we are never ready to accept it when it happens to someone we love. And when it does happen, it's a disaster. You feel guilty, feel that you could have done something to help and, the worst part, you feel that you didn't say enough how you cared for that person. You don't want to talk about it for a while because doing so makes those feelings come back, right?"

"Ok, now I am convinced you know how I feel!"

"But George, take my advice: it helps to talk about it. It's damn freaking hard, but you'll feel better about it. Don't just run away from it forever. When you accept the death of your loved one, you can finally go back to live your life again."

"And George" Ginny said "remember when you lost your ear? What did Fred do when he saw you waking up?"

"He… joked about my situation with a smile in his face…"

"And what would you want him to do if you died there?"

"Keep the joke shop running, spread our philosophy to new people and move on with his life. And I would be there with him, wherever I was, supporting him."

Just as he said that, he realized. Fred would want the same thing. Fred would want his twin to give him a final farewell, keep him in his memory, keep his ideas running, keep him alive in his heart and in the minds of everyone that met him alive.

"I guess you're right guys. Fred wouldn't want to see me all alone and crying here. I know it's not going to be easy, but I'm going to try to move on."

"And George" Ron was a little embarrassed by saying what he was going to say "we will be there for you."

George had a smile in his face when he got up from the bed with the F on it:

"Well, if I need to move on, I'd better start right now: where did you learn about comforting people Ron? It's not going to be on any N.E. and, as far as I know, you don't go reading anything that won't be on an exam or that has anything to do with Chudley Cannons."

Everyone in the room laughed. They were leaving the room, with George taking the lead. When he passed near Ron, he whispered "Thanks bro!".

"So" George started after they left the Room of Requirement "we have a whole day before the feast. What shall we do?"

They spent the rest of the day by the lake, with Harry, Ron and Hermione telling George and Ginny about their Gringots break-in and the dragon – with the promise to tell why they did that later. Then,it was lunchtime.

"I'm still not in the mood to be with a lot of people" Harry said.

"Still afraid of questions, aren't you?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, a little bit."

"I'll go get us some food from the kitchens then." George replied.

"George, I think I have a better idea." Ron said, before George could run away "Harry, can you call Kreacher?"

"Awesome Ron! A picnic!" said Ginny, happy with the idea.

"Yes Ron, good idea! Kreacher?"

Two seconds later, a house elf appeared in front of the group and made a reverence, his nose almost touching the grass.

"Did Master Potter call Kreacher?"

"Yes. How are you and the elves doing Kreacher? Is everybody alright after the battle of yesterday?"

"Yes Master Potter, all elves are alive. Some of us got minor injuries, but we are more than happy with a whole feast in demand in just one day."

"Very good. I've got a little task for you."

"How may I serve you master?"

"We would like to have lunch here. Can you bring food enough to all of us?"

"Yes Master! It will be an honor to serve you! I'll be right back!" And with one quick sound from the fingers, the elf was gone.

"Well, we aren't eating on the floor right?" Hermione said. She got her wand, stopped to think for a couple seconds and muttered a spell. A table and some chairs appeared out of nowhere.

"I have a highly advanced transfiguration book in my handbag. This was the only thing I could master from that book. They were not lying about the highly advanced part."

They laughed. It was the first time, EVER, that they heard Hermione say she couldn't master a spell.

A minute later, a crack was heard in the air. Harry looked and there was Kreacher. Harry blinked once and there were nine other house elves.

"What the… Kreacher, there are only five of us!"

"No Harry, this will be enough, don't worry." Said George. "I didn't have breakfast today, I'm starving. Besides, there's Ron, you know…"

"Oh, I know what you mean…"

The elves then helped set up the food on the table with the plates and everything else. Each one made a reverence before disappearing back to the kitchens. Kreacher was the last one to go.

"Call me if you need anything Master."

"Got it. Thank you Kreacher!"

George filled everybody's glasses with pumpkin juice and they toasted "To a New Life!" Lunch then went happy and peacefully with George and Ron talking about ideas for the joke shop. Harry could already feel he was going to have a life like every other boy.

When the done was done with the lunch, Hermione got rid of the transfigured table and George announced he would go back to the Burrow:

"I'm going to help mom with Fred's body and star planning his funeral. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Worry about mom though… We'll be back for the feast, don't worry. See ya!"

"Well, we still have a whole afternoon left." Ginny said "Guess it's couple's time?"

"Took the words out of my mouth Ginny," said Ron. "Hermione?" he offered her his arm.

"We'll be at the common room if you need us Harry" Hermione said, already moving with Ron.

Harry and Ginny stayed by the lake and they sat down under a tree, with Ginny lying in Harry's lap. She just looked at him, with her hand in his hair. She missed him so much during the whole year, ever since that kiss on Harry's 17th birthday. She dreamed with him every day, not knowing if he was alright. The only thing that kept her moving on was that she new he was alive, or the Daily Prophet would have noticed that Harry Potter was caught. But, now, everything was over. He was all hers.

But, although Harry was looking Happy, she could notice something was bothering him. His mind was not entirely there with her. She decided to ask:

"Harry, is there anything troubling you?"

"I was just thinking about my plans on talking about everything. I don't want to keep running from this: the sooner I finish with this, the sooner I'll be free."

"I agree. Do you have anything in mind?"

"I was planning on have a meeting with some people, tell them the truth about everything and let the ministry handle the rest."

"And who would be 'some people'?"

"All the Weasleys, Kingsley, McGonagall, Neville and Luna."

"Good, good. When?"

"As soon as possible."

After that, Harry seemed to be in total peace, with nothing in his mind but the girl with him. Two hours before the feasts, they decided to return to the common room to get dressed.

"Hey you two!" Harry pointed to Ron and Hermione in a couch, alone in the common room.

"Hey" Ron said. "We were about to go after you, McGonagall told us Mom and everyone are coming soon."

"So, time to take a shower and get dressed." Ginny said.

"Ah, McGonagall also told us that the feast is not too formal." Hermione reminded.

In half an hour, the four of them were fully dressed again. Harry and Ron used jeans with a nice T-shirt and Hermione and Ginny both used simple dresses that went a below their knees. Hermione's was red, Ginny's was green.

"To match those eyes" she said, giving Harry a kiss.

"Ron, how are they coming here?" Harry asked.

"McGonagall's fireplace. So I guess this means we should wait outside her office."

Half an hour later, they were in front of the director's office, wondering how was everyone when the Weasleys appeared.

"Oh, we're been expected!" Bill announced.

"By who?" Charlie asked from the stairs.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Hello you four."

All Weasleys and Fleur said hello and when it was Mrs. Weasley's turn, Harry thought Hagrid was no match for her.

"Mrs. Weasley" Harry was trying to say "I'm suffocating!"

"Oh, sorry dear!"

"Mrs. Weasley… I'm… I'm sorry about Fred…"

"Harry" it was Mr. Weasley's turn to talk now "you should not feel sorry for Fred. George told us about the event of this morning. You indeed eased the pain on him and on all of us. Fred would want you to go crying and regretting his death: he would at least expect you to tell everydoby the reaction of prof. Umbridge when he and George left Hogwars two years ago."

"Yes dear" Mrs. Weasley continued, a tear in her eye "so you better enjoy yourself on the feast today, right?"

"Er… ok" sai Harry shyly.

Harry, Hermione and the Weasley started walking towards the Great Hall and Ron changed the subject:

"So dad, how was the day at the ministry?"

"Oh, it was a chaos. A happy chaos, but still a chaos. The Daily Prophet drove Kingsley crazy today. He refused to tell much more than 'Voldemort is dead, expect details later this week'. He spent most of the day with the aurors filling them with what he saw at the battle here and giving them the names of the Death Eaters that escaped. I was with Bill handling the Gringots's break in situation and Charlie spent the day trying to figure where that dragon went."

"I can help with that if you need Charlie" said Harry.

"It's not necessary Harry. That dragon won't go back to gringots, we just want to make sure it won't hurt people and won't be seen by muggles. We already have teams watching muggle news and reading muggle newspapers and another team searching him in the direction that the eye witnesses saw him go."

"Very good work Charlie! How's gringots Bill?"

"Oh, more than angry, they are impressed that someone ran away from them and mounted in a dragon. But everything will be okay; the vault you broke in is already fixed."

After that, Harry changed the subject again:

"Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, everyone. I want you all to know everything about our mission. I've been thinking about it and, now that I've heard about the situation at the ministry, I don't want to keep my mouth shut for too long. Ron, Hermione, do you agree?"

"We do Harry, but" Hermione started "how are you planning to do this? It's a big story."

"I was thinking of making a meeting here at Hogwarts of in the Burrow, with everyone here, Kingsley, McGonagall and some more people that deserve to know the truth: Neville and Luna."

"That's a good idea Harry" Mr. Weasley said. "I can arrange that with Kingsley and McGonagall."

"Thank you Mr. Weasley."

When the group arrived at the Great Hall, it was just like Harry was used to see: the four house tables parallel to each other and the teachers table in front of them. We enchanted ceiling was black with a lot of stars.

In the next hour, the Great Hall started to fill in with people. Students coming from their common rooms and parents arriving from everywere. Since there were only the 7th year students that stayed in the final battle, the parents could join their old houses table or near their sons if they were from a different house.

Then, finally, McGonagall and Kingsley joined the teachers' table, which was already occupied by the other teachers. Harry noticed Snape wasn't there and, somehow, missed him. "Thank you" he thought. But he went back to reality when McGonagall raised from her chair and started to talk.

"Thank you everybody for coming today. We have some news to tell you all, but, as we are all hungry and eager to talk and have fun, those news will have to wait. May the feast begin!"

And all the golden plates filled with lots of food. Ron seemed like he didn't eat in decades, he was eating more than his mouth could handle. They spent the whole two hours having fun, with Neville, Ginny and Luna telling the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione about the year with the Carrows and everything they were forced to do. Those two hours were like 10 minutes to Harry, he didn't remember having that much fun (despite the conversation being a little dark). Then, Kingsley stood up and opened his arms, like Dumbledore did.

"Thank you for that great dinner director. Now, today marks the beginning of a new era in our world. The Dark Lord is dead and we can finally life our lives without having to hide. Of course, our work is not a 100% complete, as some Death Eaters escaped and are still out there. But I can guarantee that the ministry is already working on this. And, of course I could not finish this without mentioning the one who saved us all. Harry Potter, thank you for everything. Dumbledore sure was wise in trusting you and your friends with this task." There was a huge applause, in which Harry, Ron and Hermione blushed a lot "And I would also like all of you not to ask anything to Harry. He will tell us what happened when he is ready."

Feeling immensely grateful, Harry joined the waves of applauses to Kingsley. Then, McGonagall stood up to talk.

"Thank you minister. Parents of the ones that died in the battle of yesterday: rest assured that this school will never forget their sacrifices. They are all getting a tribute in our trophy room. Their names are going to be in the history of this school forever. They all fought bravely to defend what was right and I'm sure that they would want us to move on, to live the lives that they died fighting for. This life is their legacy to all of us."

There was a huge applause, with a lot of parents crying, including Mrs. Weasley. Then, McGonagall continued.

"Now, as you have already noticed, the school is unable to continue classes for the remainder of this year. We plan to re-open the school in September 1st, where all activities will return to normal. 7th years will have the opportunity to repeat the year, in order to prepare properly for the N.E.. Also, we are accepting help with the school's reconstruction. The ones who want to help can talk directly to me or with any school teacher."

After that, the feast was over. McGonagall thanked everyone for coming and people started to move out of the Great Hall. Mrs. Weasley then approached Harry and Hermione:

"Why don't you two stay at the Burrow with us? I believe you have nowhere to go, right?"

She was right. Harry wasn't returning to live with the Dursley, he was already of age. Hermione also had nowhere to go: her parents where still in Austraila.

"Ok then Mrs. Weasley, thank you." Harry and Hermione said.

They started walking towards the main gate of the castle to apparate back to the Burrow. Then, George said:

"So Harry, when are you going to tell us about you and Ginny?"

Harry and Ginny stopped, their hearts beating fast. George than continued:  
"Don't laugh Ron! When are you telling us about you and Hermione?"

They also stopped, like Harry and Ginny. All the other Weasleys and Fleur were laughing hard.

"Don't worry" Mr. Weasley said to the two couples "we already know this, George told us and we are very happy about it."

"This is called Fred's legacy." George said "Someone has to keep this family laughing, right?"


	3. Returning Home

**CHAPTER 03 – Returning Home**

Harry and the Weasleys were walking towards the Burrow's main entrance. It was a long time ago since Harry last saw the house this close to his eyes. The feeling he had was that he had an extremely long day and was returning home.

Home. That was the right word indeed. Besides Hogwarts, the Burrow was the only place that Harry could call home. That was the place in which everyone liked him. It was strange at first, when he was 12, to be treated like a normal person, to be yelled at because he said a dirty word, to be hugged every morning. Arthur and Molly Weasley have eased the pain in Harry's heart of having no parents. And Ron and Hermione were the brothers he never had.

"God, it's good to be back" Ron said when they were all inside.

"It's good to have you back son" Mr. Weasley smiled at him.

Ron smiled back.

"Well, we'll be leaving then. It's getting late already." Bill announced.

"See you in the ministry tomorrow?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Yes dad."

"You two have a good night then." Arthur shook the hands of his son and kissed Fleur's forehead.

"Bye everybody!" Fleur said and she and Bill disappareted to the Shell Cottage.

"So, let's organize the rooms." Said Mrs. Weasley. "Charlie goes to Percy's room with Percy, George stays in his room, Harry with Ron and Hermione with Ginny. The rooms are already prepared with beds. Agreed?"

"Yes mom." Ginny said.

"I don't" Ron muttered in Harry's ear "I bet you don't too…"

"Yeah, I don't." Harry laughed back.

"Well, don't sleep too late boys." said Arthur, already going to his room with Molly "Good night." He stopped after climbing two more steps of the stair "Harry, I'll talk with Kingsley tomorrow about that meeting ok?"

"Ok Mr. Weasley, thank you." Replied Harry.

"We're going too" Charlie and Percy said "good night." And they left.

When Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Charlie and Percy were gone, George started:

"So, let's watch the couples figure out a way of spending the next nights in the same room under the same roof of Molly Weasley." And he laughed at their situation.

"Stop it George!" Ginny said "You should already have made something in the joke shop to use in situations like this…"

"And" George now talked like his sister was a client at the shop "to your great surprise Miss Ginevra, I do have something."

"Get it. Now!" Hermione said.

"Not today, not today. It's not totally ready yet. I mean, the construction of the 'thing' is finished, but there are still some security tests to do."

"And how long will it take to get it ready?" Ron asked.

"I hope in a week. I was already planning on testing here. I'll be at the shop tomorrow with Verity to prepare it to reopen next Monday and I'll bring one or two here. Then I'll explain how it works."

"Fine. Guess we can do nothing about it for now." Ron said, sitting on the couch.

"Poor Ron…" George said with a smile.

"C'mon Ron, use your head!" Hermione said, having an idea "Apparition and the _Muffliato_ charm!"

"Of course!" Ron jumped to kiss his girlfriend. "That's my girl!" He then turned to George "You are not telling mom right?"

"Are you kidding me? Disobeying like this is a dream! And yes, this is also Fred's legacy!"

They all laughed. George then left, saying he would meet Verity at the joke shop early in the morning to reorganize the products and clean the place.

"So" Harry said after George left "what time does your mother wake up Ron?"

"About six, why?"

"I think we should switch back just to be safe. Not at six, because I think she'll be just waking up and might find the noise strange. But at seven, yes, it would be wise."

They all agreed with Harry. An angry Mrs. Weasley was something they did not want to see. They agreed Hermione would apparate in Ginny's room and change back with Harry at seven.

With this in mind, they stayed in the living room for some more minutes until the house was in complete silence. Then, Ron and Hermione went to Ron's bedroom and Harry and Ginny to Ginny's.

"So" Ginny said, after closing her door "I've got you for a whole night."

"Yeah. And what do you want to do?" Harry asked, already kissing her neck.

Ginny gasped in Harry's ear "Oh, that's good Potter!"

"I almost forgot!" Harry got his wand and pointed to the door "_Muffliato!_ Right, now we are safe."

Harry threw his wand away and fell onto Ginny's bed. With his index finger, he signed for Ginny to come over to him. She fell directly over Harry and started kissing him. He quickly went back to her neck, making her gasp, while his hands were traveling around her back. Ginny then found Harry's ear and licked its lobe. Harry went to the sky, he never felt anything like it. Ginny was making him go mad and he could feel little Harry go insane in his pants. And, to his surprise, Ginny didn't move her body at all: instead, she even positioned to better feel her boyfriend's hardness. Harry couldn't help himself much longer.

Ginny then stopped kissing Harry and just sat down, still feeling Harry near her. She then said:

"You want to take them off? "

"What?" Harry wasn't sure of what he heard.

"Your pants you silly boy." She was smiling at him. "It will be more comfortable for both of us."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Also, while we're at it… would you turn around? I want to put on something more comfortable too…"

Harry's heart was beating so fast he thought it was going out through his mouth. He turned back to face the window and stood up to take of his shirt and his pants, staying only with his black boxers. He also could sense Ginny taking off her dress and putting on something he couldn't see. A few seconds later, Ginny broke the silence:

"You can turn back again now."

And Harry's jaw fell. Ginny was now wearing a very sexy silky semi-transparent purple pajama. The shirt's handle was thinner than his finger and went down her body only to stop just before her belly button. Harry could also see her small breast and the already hard nipples clearly. The shorts went down just a few inches and Harry could see her black panties. Without much more delay, Harry took her by the hand and they fell over on the bed again.

Ginny was right when she said it would be more comfortable. Harry could easily feel her all around him. Her legs on his, her hands on his body, her belly on his, her breasts on his chest and, of course, her sex on his. It didn't take too much time, Harry pressed Ginny's body against his and exploded in his boxers, crying Ginny's name weakly in her ear.

Ginny then fell beside Harry. He could also feel her panties were all wet. They held hands together and Harry broke the silence.

"When did you learn all of his you naughty girl?" Harry smiled at her.

"This is what you learn from thinking of a boy for 16 years."

"I see."

"Besides, this should have been your 17th birthday present if Ron hadn't interrupted us."

Harry couldn't help but curse Ron silently in his mind, but another important question came up.

"Ginny… I don't know how to say this, but…" Harry hesitated a little "don't you think we are going too fast? I mean… it's not that I don't like all of this but… we've started dating again today and I'm already breaking house rules and we're…"

Ginny smiled at Harry. "I understand you sweetie. And I agree with you. But I don't feel like just kissing you know? I want to feel you, I want to desire you, I want to be desired, you know?"

"Yeah, you're right. I don't think I could stand just kissing you much longer…"

"I love you Ginny."

"I love you Harry."

And, with that, the slept peacefully, holding hands, fingers laced together.

The next day, at seven o'clock, Harry felt something shake him.

"Harry, wake up!" a female voice said.

"What…"

"Harry! We need to switch back, Mrs. Weasley is already up!"

With the last sentence, Harry got up in a second. Hermione, looking at Harry, smiled:

"What have you two been doing?"

"Uh, nothing!" Harry said, a little embarrassed until he looked at Hermione. She was wearing a T-shirt that belonged to Ron and her underwear.

"It seems you two have been playing too sis…" Harry smiled back and Hermione blushed.

"Oh, shut up! Get your clothes, your wand and get out of here! Make sure to undo the undo there!"

Twenty seconds later he was at Ron's room.

"Hey mate!"Harry threw a pillow at Ron's face.

"Stop Hermione!" Ron muttered, still asleep.

"C'mon teaspoon, wake up!" Harry said, in a higher tone.

Ron turned to Harry's side and opened his eyes. He just saw two legs inside black boxers.

"Hermione, why are your legs hairy?" Ron was still sleeping.

"Because Hermione is not here anymore you idiot!" and Harry threw another pillow at Ron.

Ron finally sat up in his bed. Harry could notice Ron was wearing only red boxers. Ron then opened his eyes and saw Harry.

"Hi mate."

"Hi Ron." Harry smiled "Seems you got yourself some snogging."

Ron noticed he was uncovered now. He blushed a little and looked at Harry.

"Shut up and explain yourself! What have you done with my sister?"

"The same you've done with mine: nothing."

Ron laughed. He knew Hermione was like a sister to Harry. Harry then continued:

"Besides, I think we don't want to know the events of last night that happened in the other bedroom. Let's just keep it in our minds, ok?"

"Yeah, you're right. I won't want to see Ginny snogging in my mind…" And he did an expression that showed he really didn't want to know what Harry and Ginny did the night before. By that, he was finally fully awake and changed subject.

"But anyway Harry, we've got an extra large vacation, we are already of age and we can apparate, We gotta make plans, right?"

And they spent the next hour talking about what they could do with all that free time and the freedom of being of age. When Harry finally remembered to undo the _Muffliato_ charm, a familiar voice called from below:

"Breakfeast is almost ready!"

Those words came like music to Ron's ears. They changed (Harry's stuff was still there, as he took only the essentials with him on his mission) and, by the time they got to the living room, Ginny and Hermione were already there, laughing to themselves.

"Hey you two" Harry announced as he took a seat beside Ginny and kissed her "Good morning sweetie."

"Morning!" Ginny smiled at Harry.

"Good morning Harry dear!" Mrs. Weasley said from the kitchen. "Good morning Ron!"

"Morning mom!" Ron said, still looking at Ginny and Hermione "What were you two laughing about?"

"Nothing dear, girl stuff." Hermione said.

Five minutes later, the four of them were having breakfast at the kitchen's table.

"Where's everybody mom?" Ginny asked.

"George left fifteen minutes ago heading to the shop. Charlie, Percy and Arthur went to the ministry at seven. Ah, Harry dear, Arthur said he would send an owl when he talked with Kingsley."

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley."

The rest of the day went quite well. Since the house was a mess, they spent the rest of the day cleaning. A house elf from Hogwarts even brought Ginny's stuff from the castle. And, just before lunch, Hermes, Percy's owl, came with a letter for Harry. It was written by Kingsley himself.

_Harry,_

_Arthur talked with me earlier this morning but I could only send you this message now. He said you showed interest in finishing with this as soon as possible, so how about tomorrow, at lunch time, in the Burrow? If it's ok for you, I shall send an owl to tell professor McGonagall, Mr. Longbottom and Miss Lovegood of the events._

_Kingsley Shacklelbolt_

_Acting Ministry of Magic_

"Perfect" Harry said "Is it ok for you two? And for you Mrs. Weasley?"

They all agreed. Harry just wrote back an "ok" and Hermes flew back.

After lunch, Harry and Ron passed the afternoon playing Wizard's Chess. Ron categorically beat Harry every single time. The girls were in Ginny's room and, according to Ron, they were "creating a plan to drive us nuts at night".

Then, around six p.m. George's pointer in the family's watch moved from "work" to "home". Seconds later, he was home.

"Where's mom?" George asked in a low voice.

"Cleaning her room" Ron answered in the save level.

"Good. I've got that thing to help you two. Call the girls."

Ron went to Ginny's room and heard a strange noise. "_Muffliato_", Ron thought. He opened the door a little and, without looking, muttered:

"George's here with the thing to help us. Come downstairs you two!"

Two minutes later, George started to explain.

"This is called 'People blocker'." George showed a sticky piece of white paper and a small ball that reminded Harry of a remembrall. George than continued: "Fred invented this one. You stick this at the front side of your bedroom's door and anyone who tries to open it will suddenly remember to do something on another part of the house. At the same time, this little ball here will turn red, just like the Remembrall, and will illuminate the entire room. I believe it should be enough to wake you guys up. Then, you've got to switch back fast, because the paper in the door only works once: it won't stop people from trying to open the door again. This is something I have yet to improve, that's why I'm not selling in the shop. It's not a 'People Blocker' if it blocks only once."

"And how do we turn off the ball?" Ron asked.

"Good question Ron. Just point your wand at it like you point it at a lamp to light it."

"But George" Hermione said "won't this white paper be strange on our doors?"

"Yes Hermione, if they remained white. I've put a charm on them, so that they mimic the exact color of the door they are in."

"Awesome. Can we test it?" Ron asked.

"Yes. I'll be back in a minute, there's a full box of those in the shop."

A minute later, George was back. He put the box with the blockers under his bed and put one on his door. He then called his mother loudly.

"Mom! Can you come here please?"

Harry and the others were anxious to see the results. They could hear Mrs. Weasley going in the direction of George's room and when they saw she was about to enter the room, she stopped:

"Oh, I think I left the faucet open!"

The ball started to become red and, five seconds later, the entire room was red. George pointed his wand at it and all the red was gone. Thirty seconds later, Molly was back and entered the room:

"You called me dear?"

"Mom, did you wash my socks. There are no clean pairs in my closet…"

"Yes dear, they're all clean." And she left.

"George, you're a genius!" Ron looked at George, impressed.

"One last question George" Ginny said "Won't mom find it strange after a while that she keeps forgetting things? I mean, she said she left the faucet open today and she probably went back to her bathroom and saw the faucet closed. It's ok if these things happen once in a while, but it's strange when it happens on a daily basis."

"You're right Ginny. But I was prepared for that. The reason for the paper to block people only once is that, the moment the door is opened again, the paper uses all of it's energy to make the person believe that what was forgotten was really forgotten. I mean, it's a pretty small memory charm. Mom now really thinks the faucet was open."

"But won't that be bad to her health?" Hermione asked.

"No. Fred showed the idea to a client of ours that is a healer at St. Mungo's and he said there's no real danger."

The rest of the night went fast. Arthur, Percy and Charlie came back at eight and Arthur told Harry everything was set for tomorrow. All Weasleys would leave work at noon with Kingsley and Minerva, Neville and Luna would arrive around the same time by floo powder. At bed time, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione waited for everyone to go to sleep once again to go to their rooms. Harry and Ron used the blocker in the door and put the ball thing near the beds and one more night of snogging went on for both couples.

It was eleven thirty and Harry was a little nervous. Soon, he would open his heart and tell everything. At least, he thought, he would finally be over with it.

Then, at ten to twelve, Neville and Luna arrived.

"Hey Harry!" Neville said, leaving the fireplace.

"Hello Neville." Harry shook hands with his friend.

Luna appeared seconds later. Both were in school robes.

"We've been helping at Hogwarts." Luna explained. "Neville is still helping prof. Sprout with the plants, while I'm with professor Flitwick helping him rebuilt the walls."

"The school's a mess Harry, but we believe we'll finish in time for the new term." Neville added.

"And where's McGonagall?" Harry asked.

"She's coming soon. She's finishing some paper work."

"I see."

In the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was trying to finish making lunch for a lot of people.

"Do you need help Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked.

"No dear, thank you! Hi Neville! Hi Luna!"

"Hi Mrs. Weasley!" Neville and Luna said.

But Harry clearly noticed Mrs. Weasley wasn't handling that enormous lunch alone. She wouldn't be able to finish in time. Hermione noticed that too, but she had an idea:

"Harry! How about you call Kreacher to help?"

"Awesome Hermione! Kreacher!"

A second later, Kreacher was making a reverence to Harry.

"Yes Master Potter! How may I serve you today?"

"Hello Kreacher. Are you okay?" Harry asked, smiling.

"Yes Master Potter, Kreacher is fine."

"Kreacher, come here." He took his elf to the kitchen "This is Molly Weasley, Ron's mother. I want you to help her with lunch. Follow her instructions, ok? And you Mrs. Weasley, be kind to Kreacher."

"It will be an honor Master!" And he made another reverence.

"Oh dear, thank you!" Mrs. Weasley. "You're ready Kreacher?"

Ten minutes later, things were much better in the kitchen and Mrs. Weasley was confident she and Kreacher could make it in time. Then, the fireplace went green again and Minerva McGonagall appeared, with the same clothes she used to teach her classes.

"Professor McGonagall!" Hermione said. "Welcome to the Burrow!"

"Hello Miss Granger."

Just as McGonagall finished saying her hellos to everyone in the house, there was a knock at the door. Ron opened it. It was all the Weasleys, with Fleur and Kingsley.

"Well, I think we'll need to move things outside." Arthur said.

Five minutes later, a big desk and chairs were conjured by McGonagall and lunch was served by Kreacher. After some minutes of animated chat, Kingsley raised his hand.

"So Harry… you can start whenever you want."

"Ok" Harry's heart started to beat fast. Ginny took his hand in hers, Harry took a deep breath and started.

"Let's see… I'm starting with the events of the Triwizard Tournaments."

And he went on talking. The third task, Cedric's death, the return of Voldemort. Then, he went on with his occlumency classes with Snape and the prophecy at the ministry aided by the others when he needed. Everyone listened in absolute silence. Kingsley was impressed at what those boys and girls in front of him did. It was already more than many fully formed Aurors. But the best part was coming, Harry new.

He then proceeded with the events of his sixth year. His suspicions about Draco and his particular classes with Dumbledore, he described what he saw in the memories he visited with the headmaster. Then, he finally mentioned the Horcruxes and the quest to get the locket. Everyone, besides Ron and Hermione, was absolutely astonished.

"Voldemort made a Horcrux? Merlin's pants!" Kingsley was eager to hear more.

But Kingsley would be even more impressed. Harry then told about the seven horcruxes.

"Seven Horcruxes? God, he was insane!" Kingsley now was acting like a kid watching the movie of this favorite superhero.

"Then, you know the next part. There was that battle at Hogwarts, Dumbledore died and Snape ran away with Malfoy and the Death Eathers."

"Then, until the day I left the Burrow with Ron and Hermione after you warned us about Scrimgeour's death, you know too."

Everyone nodded.

There was a parenthesis, in which Hermione explained about what she did with her parents and Ron's plan with the family ghoul.

Harry then called Kreacher and asked him to tell the same story about that locket and R.A.B. Hermione then explained their plan to get to the ministry and they all told their stories there, how they found the real locket with Umbridge and how they escaped. Then came Ron's time to tell about how he left and how he returned to the group, how they found Godric Gryffindor's sword and destroyed the locket. Hermione and Harry told about Godric's Hollow and the snake event.

Then came the Deathly Hallow's story from Mr. Lovegood, which Luna told. Everybody was shocked and though it was a joke. Then, came the Malfoy Manor thing, Hermione's torture by Bellatrix (Ron couldn't hold back his tears), Dobby's death (Kreacher was moved when he heard that the free elf he didn't like very much died defending his master) and Harry gave special attention to the moment he took Draco's Wand, the Elder Wand. As Harry described the wand, the same way Ollivander did, Minerva recognized it as Dumbledore's. Seeing that no one was believing in the Deathly Hallows tale, he got his cloak with an "_Accio"_ spell and threw it to Kingsley. Mrs. Weasley almost fell from the chair.

"Yes Kingsley, you concluded correctly. I'm a descendant of the Peverells."

And he continued with the events at Shell Cottage, that Bill and Fleur helped to tell. Then the Gringots break in and, finally, how they entered Hogwarts through the Hog's Head.

Then, there was the new part, the battle of Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione told how they entered the Chamber of Secrets again to get the basilisk fangs to destroy the Cup and how they found Ravenclaw's Diadem. Next was Voldemort having Nagini bite Snape, believing to have won Volermort the Elder Wand. Harry then filled everyone in on the memories Snape shared shocking everyone.

"No way, Snape was a good guy all the time?" Ron couldn't believe it.

And, finally was the part only Harry new, his sacrifice. Everyone also understood the same thing Harry did when he told about Snape's memory: he was a horcrux and had to die. Then, he told about the resurrection stone in the snitch, how he survived, how he talked the last time with Dumbledore, how Narcisa Malfoy helped him and everything.

"… then I shielded Mrs. Weasley and the rest you saw." Harry took another deep breath. "There, that's it."

Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were crying. The moment they understood Harry was really going to die for them was too much for their hearts.

"Well Harry" Kingsley broke the silence "even in my strangest dreams I wouldn't imagine that. I'm sure all of us here have yet to really understand all of this. You sure are even braver than I had imagined. All of you."

"Ah" Harry remembered. He told the small conversation with Dumbledore's portrait after everything.

"Very wise indeed Harry, very wise. I only ask that no one here gets to know about this cloak. I trust that Harry will use it well and so will his sons."

They all nodded. They knew that a cloak like that in wrong hands could cause a disaster.

"Now Harry, I'm sure you'll agree with me that people should not know about the Deathly Hallows, not even about all the horcruxes."

"Yes" Harry agreed. "I trust you will tell only the necessary. But I must ask that, if you call me a hero, don't call me the only hero: I wouldn't have done it without Ron Hermione Neville and all those people that fought with us. Even those who died fighgting before so this day would come.

Mrs. Weasley cried even loudly.

"Yes Harry, I'll remember that. Now, I must leave. I have much to think on what to tell tomorrow."

"Thank you for coming minister." Arthur shook Kingsley's hand. I'll see you at work tomorrow."

Kingsley then disappareted. Kreacher started to take out the table. Mc Gonagall then left with Neville and Luna. Mrs. Weasley then yelled from the house.

Everybody ran to check what was going on. When they got to the living room, Mrs. Weasley was pointing at the family watch. All of the pointers were pointing "home". No one understood why Mrs. Weasley screamed until George pointed to two new pointers: Harry and Hermione.

"Well, I guess you're officially family now."

"It's about time" Arthur broke the silence "let me explain: we still don't understand too much how this watch works with adding new pointers but, whenever it feels that someone is close enough to us, he adds a new pointer of this person. Apparently, when we all learned about this big story, the watch had no more doubts that Harry and Hermione are in all our hearts. Also, I think he sees the futures of these two couples way ahead of us."

Harry was still a little confused. So was Hermione.

"Harry, Hermione…" Mrs. Weasley started, holding some tears "we may have lost Fred, but I think we've got a new daughter and son… you know I've always considered you two like my own daughter and son. And we want you to be. Today you two more than proved that you have a little Weasley blood in you. You care for the ones you love. You fight for what is right. And, coincidentally, you both date a Weasley." She laughed.

"Also" Mr. Weasley continued "we would like to ask you two to stop calling us Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. You're not guests here anymore. You two will always be our daughter and son. And, while we don't expect to be called mom and dad, especially by Hermione, whose parents are still alive, we want you to feel like you two have someone that resembles a mother and a father."

Harry was especially touched. Two days ago he was looking at Ginny, at Hogwarts, thinking he would never return. Now he was being told he was a son at that house. And the family watch confirmed it. Wherever he went, his pointer would now change positions.

He looked at Mrs. Weasley and just went to hug her. This time it was not a suffocating hug. It was different. It was like a mother hugging a baby that was just born. She said in Harry's ear:

"Welcome to the family son."

Harry had no doubts anymore. He was, indeed, back home.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Thanks to Ravenclaw85 for the Beta Reading! And keep reviewing please!


	4. The New Life

**CHAPTER 04 – The New Life**

Two weeks passed since the day of the meeting at the Burrow with the Weasleys, Kingsley and the others. Life was light like a feather for Harry. He had absolutely no worries, except when the "remembrall" became red in Ginny's or Ron's room and he had thirty seconds to get his things and switch bedrooms back with Hermione, which only happened once.

It was already nine in the morning and Mrs. Weasley was calling both couples to have breakfast since eight, like she always did. Sometimes they came half an hour later but she didn't mind. But one hour without answer was too much for her. She went to Ginny's room to call the girls and, as she was about to open the door, she left. Harry realized nothing until Ginny called him:

"Harry, get out of here!"

Harry was a sleepy, but as soon as he opened his eyes, he understood. He quickly grabbed his clothes and his wand and popped into Ron's room.

"Hermione! HERMIONE!"

She got up quickly and covered herself, but Harry noticed she was only in her panties. Without much time to ask, he just said, almost without air:

"Mrs. Weasley… Ginny's room… now!"

No other words were necessary. Five seconds later, she was out and Harry heard a door open:

"Girls, come on, get up!"

Since he and Hermione were now officially members of the family, things became a little different at the Burrow. Every now and then, Harry and Ron played wizard chess and, every single time, Ron let Harry think he was going to win that time. But no, Ron always had a secret master plan that saved him just before Harry was about to check-mate Ron's king and Harry would go insane against a laughing Ron. One of these days Ron was so damn brilliant that Harry was about to put a jinx on Ron that would make him laugh for about three hours straight. Harry regretted the desire to do that as soon as he heard a voice behind him:

"Harry Potter!" Mrs. Weasley called, her face worse than aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon combined "what were you thinking? I should keep you in your bedroom without meals for the rest of the day!"

Harry felt like he was ten years old, with his head facing the floor.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"You bet it won't!" and Mrs. Weasley left the living room, still angry.

But, as Ron warned Harry after this, Molly Weasley had a really big heart and, ten minutes later, it was like nothing had happened. And Harry wasn't mad either. He actually liked that it happened. He never had someone to yell at him because he did something wrong.

Another thing that changed was that Kreacher now worked at the Burrow. After all that crying, Harry decided that, if there were going to be two new people at the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley would get additional help at home.

"Mrs. Weasley…" she gave a disapproving look at Harry "I mean, Molly… if Hermione and I are living here, I would like to have Kreacher help you here every day if it's ok with him too."

"Yes Master, it would be an honor!" Kreacher had his eyes glowing with the idea of living under the same roof of his master.

"Oh Harry dear, that would be great!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"So Kreacher" Harry said "I want you to obey everyone here, ok?"

"As you wish my master!" Kreacher made a reverence.

"And will you all promise to treat Kreacher with respect and be nice to him?"

"Yes Harry, Kreacher will not be mistreated in this house." Mr. Weasley said. "Welcome to the Burrow Kreacher!"

"I'm honored Master Weasley!" and the elf made a reverence.

They quickly found a place where Kreacher could sleep. Harry knew his elf liked small places and found a perfect place under the sink in the kitchen. Hermione created a "mini-bedroom" for him, with a small bed with a pillow, a shelf for him to keep his possessions and a door to give him some privacy. The elf got used to the Burrow very quickly and he was delighted to learn from Mrs. Weasley how everyone liked their food.

But what made Harry feel completely in peace with the world was the results of the conversation at the Ministry of Magic. A week later, The Daily Prophet had big news about the battle at Hogwarts. As Harry read the news, he knew Kingsley and him would have a very good relationship.

_MINISTRY REVEALS INFORMATION ABOUT HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED'S DEATH_

_According to Kingsley Shacklebolt, Acting Minister of Magic, Harry Potter, the Chosen One, went to his death but, for reasons yet unknown, he survived once again. Then, after faking his death he finally got to a final duel alone with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the killing curse of the Dark Lord back-fired. Read the complete report on page 3._

As Harry read the text on page 3, he saw no mention of the Deathly Hallows and of Horcruxes. And, as he asked Kingsley, he was not made him seem to be the only hero: Ron and Hermione were largely mentioned, as was Neville, McGonagall, the Weasleys and the dead ones.

Fred's funeral also went well. He was buried at night, in the Burrow and the ceremony was rather big for a funeral. There was almost no crying because, as George said, "Fred would want you all to joke about his situation." Mrs. Weasley couldn't hold her tears during George's speech though.

"Thank you all for coming" he said, for a public of lots of Weasleys, some of Hogwarts friends and some parents from other dead people. "I'm not going to take too long, I promise. I want to thank Fred for being such a wonderful brother and say that his death was not in vain: it's been only two weeks since You-Know-Who died and we can already feel that life is that much better. So let's celebrate his death not crying, but having fun, this is what he would have wanted!"

Then there was a big party. Harry was with Ginny at a table when he had a big surprise:

"Harry?" a female voice called him.

Harry turned around and saw Andromeda Tonks, with something in her arms.

"Hello Mrs. Tonks. How are you?"

"I'm fine dear. I thought you'd want to see how Teddy was doing…"

Teddy. Harry had completely forgotten. Remus Lupin's son, Ted Remus Lupin, was his godson.

"Yes!" Harry said, with a new wave of excitement in him. "Is that him with you?"

"Yes. He's a month old now. You want to hold him?"

Andromeda carefully put Teddy in Harry's arms.

"Hey Teddy" Harry muttered, as Teddy was sleeping "how are you?"

As soon as Harry said that, little Teddy opened his eyes. They were black but Harry clearly noticed them slowly changing to green, to match Harry's.

"Guess he likes you Harry!" Andromeda said.

Then Teddy closed his eyes again. Harry returned his godson to Andromeda and said:

"When can I visit him?"

"Any time you want dear. Remus was really wise in choosing you as Teddy's godfather. I know you'll do well at it. Now, I need to go put Teddy in his bed. You remember where we live, right?"

"Right."

"Just drop by when you have the time."

Harry never felt such determination in his life. "I'm going to be the best godfather someone can have" he thought. He knew Teddy, like him, was going to grow up without his parents and Harry wanted to, somehow, feel this gap like Sirius did with him.

Harry just had breakfast with Ron, Hermione and Ginny and an owl appeared in the kitchen. Kreacher got the letter. The owl waited, seeming to be waiting for an answer.

"Master Harry, this letter just arrived and the owl expects you to answer it."

"Thank you Kreacher." Harry smiled at his elf and got the letter. "It's from the ministry." He said to Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"Why would you receive a letter from the ministry?" Ron asked.

"Just open and read it!" Ginny said.

Harry opened and noticed, like the letter he received before the meeting, that it was written by Kingsley himself.

_Harry, Ron and Hermione_

_Harry, can you and your friends have lunch with me today? I have something I wish talk with you about. Don't worry; it's nothing to do with Voldemort or anything. If you can, Arthur will pick you guys up and bring you to the restaurant near the ministry._

_Kingsley._

"Well, I guess there's no problem, right?" Hermione said.

Kreacher got Harry a quill and a bottle of ink and Harry just wrote "Ok, Ginny will come too".

Some hours later, Arthur came home to pick up everyone. They appareted to the back area of the restaurant and Kingsley was already there.

"Well, good afternoon to all of you!" Kingsley said.

They all took their places on the table, had a little talk, ordered and Kingsley went to the main subject.

"Well, I have four things to say here. First, Miss Granger, in that meeting at the Burrow, you mentioned about what you did to your parents. I asked a friend from the Australian Ministry to look for them and he found your parents. Don't worry, they're perfectly fine. We can discuss this matter in detail after this lunch if you want."

"Thank you minister!" Hermione said.

"Now, second thing: I had a conversation with the head auror and he agrees with me that you three and all your friends that fought at Hogwarts are ready to start the Auror Training Program. You may not have the necessary N.E. but, as I've already said before, you have more experience than many fully trained aurors."

"Wow, this is big." Ron said.

"Of course I don't expect you to have an answer to this offer now. The training term only starts in August."

"Third. Harry, I guess you'll want to know that your Muggle family just came back to their home. Their fine and your cousin sent you a letter."

"Thank you minister." Said Harry, taking the piece of paper from Kingsley and putting it in his pocket. He would read it later.

"And, fourth, Harry, the ministry wants to give you some kind of reward for what you've done for all of us."

"Oh no, I can't accept that." Harry said.

"I insist Harry. Consider whatever you ask for as a gift for all your hard work."

After much insistence from Kingsley, Harry dropped it.

"Ok then. I've given it a thought already and I want to do my seventh year at Hogwarts. You know, a last year just to enjoy school as it is supposed to be: just you, your friends and the books and the exams. No worries about Voldemort. Besides, I'll get to be in the same year as my girlfriend now."

"I see Harry. So what does this have to do with your reward?"

"You probably are aware that I was seeker for Gryffindor house and that, on the day Alastor Moody died, I lost by broom."

"I get it. You need another broom to compete for the house cup at Hogwarts."

"Yes. A _Nimbus 2000_ should be cheap enough and a good broom to compete with."

"Alright then Harry, a _Nimbus 2000_ it is." Kingsley winked to Mr. Weasley when no one was looking. Arthur smiled. Just then, their food arrived and they all went back to random chat, with Arthur bombing Harry with questions about muggle stuff.

Half an hour later, Ginny and Harry disappareted back to the Burrow. Ron and Hermione stayed in order to talk about Hermione's parents with Kingsley. They went to Ginny's room.

"So, Mr. Harry Potter is going to be my classmate!" Ginny said, giving Harry a kiss.

"Yes, yes. When McGonagall said at Hogwarts that 7th years could repeat the year, this was the first thing that came to my mind. And, although Kingsley's offer was very tempting, I guess one more year of school won't be bad…"

Ginny kissed her boyfriend again.

"Ah, Harry, your cousin's letter! Aren't you going to read it?"

"Oh, I forgot Ginny!" Harry got the paper from his pocket and read.

_Harry,_

_I don't expect you to forgive us for what we've done to you all those years, but thank you, especially for saving my life. Dad's never been happier, saying he will never need to see you again, but I hope we can keep in contact. Just don't send those owls or dad's going to kill me. Send normal mail._

_Dudley._

"What does he mean by normal mail Harry?" Ginny asked, confused.

"Ah…" Harry laughed. He tried to explain, but she didn't understand it very well. He gave up and just snogged her.

At the beginning of the night, Ron and Hermione arrived.

"So, what did Kingsley tell you two?" Harry asked.

"Well" Hermione started "Kingsley told us that they arrived at Australia around a week after the day I said I changed their memories and that they are living in peace. He gave me their address and said that he could send a specialist in memory charms to help me with them whenever I want to go."

"A specialist? Hermione, I thought YOU were the specialist here!" Ginny said.

"No." Ron said before Hermione could continue "The fact is that the counter charm to restore their memory to the exact same way it was is far more complex than just changing in the first place. Kingsley said that, if you do anything wrong, Hermione's parents can forget her forever."

"So, when are you going Hermione?" Harry asked.

"This weekend. I'm sure mom and dad will want to return to England, so I will need to help them move out. I'm already studying some charms to help them move fast."

The next day, just after Breakfast, a big package was spotted by Kreacher, carried by three owls.

"Master, look over there!"

When the package arrived, Harry recognized its shape. It was his broom. His new _Nimbus 2000_. Or so he thought.

"Come on Harry, open it!" Ron said.

Harry opened the package and, to his surprise, it was not the broom he asked for. He searched for the name on the handle and saw it: _Firebolt_.

Harry blinked. He read the name again. He looked at Ron and Ginny and they didn't believe it yet. Hermione broke the silence.

"Harry, there's a card here." She gave it to Harry, who read it out loud.

_Harry,_

_Here's your "Nimbus 2000". Don't worry about the price. Quality Quidditch Supplies was more than happy to give me a discount when I told them it was for Harry Potter. Also, Headmistress McGonagall was happy to help with the payment too, as she wants the Cup once again. You deserve it._

_Kingsley Shacklebolt._

"Well Harry, this is the good part of being famous!" Ginny said, giving him a kiss.

At the end of the week, Ron went with Hermione to Australia to get her parents and Harry went with Ginny to Andromeda's house to spend the weekend with his godson.

"Hey little one!" Harry said when he saw Teddy in his infant bed.

Teddy smiled when he saw Harry and Ginny. His eyes went green and his hair red.

"Oh, he's so cute!" Ginny said.

But Harry soon learned that Teddy could also drive him crazy. He threw up in him after lunch and, at night, Teddy cried all night. Ginny was asleep and the task was left to him.

"Do you need any help Harry?" Andromeda asked, sleepy.

"No, thanks." Harry smiled. "I can handle this."

"Sure you can. You better learn this now; you'll need these skills when you have kids with Ginny."

Harry blushed hard. Having kids with Ginny was a very tiny little desire, in the bottom of his heart. But, as Andromeda left, laughing, he couldn't help himself. He stood there, with Teddy in his arms, thinking about a future son of his and Ginny's.

"Yes" he thought, with a smile in his face "this is my new life now."

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Thanks to Ravenclaw85 for the Beta Reading.


	5. New Experiences

**CHAPTER 05 – NEW EXPERIENCES**

Harry woke up early. He looked at his watch and it showed him it was 7 a.m., Saturday, June 1st. He looked beside him: a redheaded girl with brown eyes was sleeping, breathing slowly, her arms on his chest. She was naked and Harry was still thinking of what happened the night before.

May 31st was supposed to be like any other day when it began. He woke up early, as he and Ron had to leave for work. George invited them to help him at the joke shop, since he and Verity were having problems handling the amount of customers. Ron was tempted by the galleons he would get every week plus the free joke products he would be able to get from time to time. Harry, on the other hand, didn't like the idea very much; as he was afraid people would stop shopping just to see the famous Harry Potter. But George guaranteed him this would not happen.

And, to Harry's great surprise, it really didn't. He and Ron were at the two registers of the shop and people barely had time to say something more than "You're Harry Potter!"

"Yes, I am. Here's your change. NEXT!"

At the end of his shift, at four o'clock, George gave Harry and Ron their salary and they went for a walk in Diagon Alley before returning to the Burrow. The place was now like Harry was used to seeing: lots of stores and full of people. Of course it was not so crowded as it was when he went to buy his Hogwarts stuff but it was not even close to being empty like it was when he came to the gringot's break-in.

"Hey Harry, let's take a look in Quality Quidditch Supplies!" Ron said. Ron would stay there, looking at a Firebolt, just like Harry did in his third year, everyday.

Five minutes later, they were walking again and Harry noticed something a lot bigger than everything else. A few steps later, he heard a voice:

"Harry!" said Hagrid, running and hugging Harry. He then hugged Harry with such force that made one of Molly Weasley's hugs look weak.

"My god Harry, my heart almost stopped when I had to carry you that time!" Hagrid was still holding Harry.

When Hagrid released Harry, he was breathing hard.

"Lower your voice Hagrid, I don't want to drag attention to me!"

"It's so good to see you too Hagrid!" Ron said, hugging Hagrid.

"We didn't see you at the feast after the battle, where were you?" Harry asked.

"Ah, that. McGonagall sent me to talk with the centaurs. You probably saw 'em in the battle."

"Yes, I saw them."

"So, I went there to give 'em Hogwarts' official gratitude and a message from McGonagall herself."

"A message? About what?" Ron asked.

"I gave them a note written by her, which basically thanked them all for helping defend the castle, that it will always be the home to the centaurs and that they should defend it when its territories are threatened. She also said that they could always count on the teachers and students of Hogwarts when that time comes."

"Very nice of her. How did they react?" Ron asked again.

"They liked it, specially the part that said that Hogwarts was their home. Also, Firenze was welcomed back into the herd and was made a 'diplomat' between wizards and centaurs. He also left his position as Divination teacher."

"Good for him!" Harry said.

The three of them finally arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. They found an empty table and sat down. Tom approached them:

"Harry! It's so good to see you!"

"Hello Tom." Harry smiled.

"Ron Weasley, it's good to see you too! And Hagrid, it's been quite some time!"

"Yeah, Hogwarts is still a mess, I've been busy there."

"Can I get you three a drink?"

"Three fire whiskies." Harry said.

"As you wish." Tom said and left them.

"So Hagrid, how's Hogwarts?" Ron asked.

"Things are slowly returning to normal, you know. The walls are being reconstructed, broken things at the castle are being restored..."

"And what about Gwap?" Harry asked, in a lower voice.

"He's ok. McGonagall told me that it is not too wise to let a giant walk around the school but she let him stay in the forbidden forest. He's talking a little better now, I'm very proud of him."

"But the best part" Hagrid had a big smile in the face now "is that now Buckbeak is living with me!"

"Awesome Hagrid!" Harry said.

Tom arrived with the fire whiskies put them on the table and left.

"And with you two, what's been going on?"

They kept talking for another hour about life at the Burrow, about Teddy, the girls, until they parted ways.

"I'll send you letters Harry!" Hagrid said, before Harry and Ron disapparated to the Burrow.

Back at the Burrow, Harry and Ron filled Ginny and Hermione with the news about Hagrid and Hogwarts and the couples spent the rest of the night together.

Then, at bed time, Harry went to Ron's room to wait for Mrs. Weasley to sleep. Fifteen minutes later, Hermione popped inside the room.

"You know what to do Harry. I've already charmed the door of Ginny's room."

Harry smiled. Hermione joined Ron in his bed while Harry got his wand. A second later, he was in Ginny's room.

"Hello again."

"Turn back Harry Potter. I'm not ready for you yet."

Harry faced the window. This was new to him. Usually, Ginny was already in her bed waiting for him for a good snog session. But today she was with a different voice.

"You can look again Potter."

Harry turned his face to his girl. He was not prepared for what he saw. She was just in panties, her breasts lying like two oranges on her chest. She came closer and kissed Harry hard.

"I can't take this anymore Harry. I need you." She muttered in his ear.

Harry didn't know what was in his head or why he did what he did, but he presumed it was instinct. The instant she finished her sentence, Harry kissed her, pushing her to the bed. Then, he went to her neck, giving small bites all the way to the ear. She gasped in pleasure. Her hands were already unzipping Harry's pants.

Harry then went down again to her mouth and made his way to her breasts. He had already played a little with them before, but not so freely like he was about to. He kissed the left breast and held the right one with his hand. He passed his tongue around her nipple and Ginny gasped higher than before.

Ginny finally managed to put her hand inside Harry's boxers and was already pumping him. Harry went to her ear and muttered:

"You want that inside you?"

"Yes Harry!"

He then stood on his knees and removed his T-shirt. Ginny removed his boxers and got a little tube from her desk.

"Contraceptive potion." She said. "There's a charm too, but the effect of the potion lasts longer."

She drank it and removed her panties, which Harry noticed were all wet. She then lied down, with Harry above her.

"Sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"Yes." She said, firmly.

Without hesitating, Harry entered her. For a second, Harry thought he was on the moon. A small moan brought him back. He then started pumping inside her. Harry was in heaven and his mind just saw Ginny screaming his name. It was not too long until they reached orgasms together.

Breathing hard, Harry fell on the bed beside Ginny. They looked at each other, smiling. Harry was stroking her red hair with his hands. No words could explain the peace he was feeling in that moment. He was with the girl he loved, he was in the most amazing moment of his live with her and now, she was there, smiling at him.

"I love you." Harry said, kissing Ginny.

"I love you too."

They hugged and slept, heavily and peacefully.

*****

"Good morning love." Said Ginny, still with her eyes closed. Harry was still beside her, holding her in his arms.

"Good morning love." Harry said, kissing her on the forehead.

"How are you feeling today?"

"Happier than I've ever been."

"So I guess you liked our little… change of events, if you will, of yesterday."

"I wouldn't call it just 'change of events', but an amazing night with an amazing woman."

Ginny laughed "Yeah, guess that is a better name."

They kissed. Harry could still feel the same happiness from the night before. He felt he could just run naked around the Burrow, laughing and jumping around, with his arms opened.

"So, let me ask you some questions." Harry said, sitting down and putting Ginny in his lap. "How long you were planning that?"

"Since you started working with Ron in George's shop. I've been locked here with Hermione, reading about contraceptive methods. She already knew a lot about it, so I suppose she and Ron have already done it."

"So Ron and I were right when we thought that you two were planning to drive us nuts…"

"Yeah, you were." Said Ginny, laughing.

"So, you want to explain to me about what you've learned?"

"Sure. There are basically two ways to help us in those moments: a potion and a charm. The potion has a two hour effect, but it's a bit hard to make. The charm, although far easier, has only a twenty minute effect. And of course, as I'm not of age yet, I had to go with the potion…"

"And how did you…"

"Hermione bought some for me in Diagon Alley. I saw her with a lot more tubes than I asked, which is another clue that she's already been playing with Ron…"

Harry laughed. Those two were always fighting and, now, they were having sex. What a turn of events, Harry thought.

Then they just stayed there, talking about random things that came out of their minds until the usual time of switching back to Ron's room.

When Harry popped into Ron's room, he noticed his friend was still asleep. He also noticed a piece of cloth that did not belong to him: a black bra. Harry laughed when he saw it.

"Ron, wake up!" Harry said. He got a quill and put it's feather in Ron's ear. He opened his eye.

"What Harry?"

"Ron, I have a very serious question to ask you!" Harry had, indeed, a very serious expression in his face. But, inside, he was holding his laugh.

"What?" Ron sat down on his bed, confused.

"What have you done with my sister?" he said.

Ron hesitated a little but answered, firmly: "Nothing."

"Nothing? Take a look around your bed Ron…"

Ron froze when he saw Hermione's bra on his bed. He's gonna kill me, he thought.

"Harry, I can explain…"

But Harry couldn't help himself any longer. He burst into laughter, seeing the panic on the face of his best friend.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Ron was even more confused.

"Come on Ron, don't lie to me! You've done it, right?"

"Ok, yes, I've done it! Happy now?"

"Yeah. I'll be fair and say I've done it too."

Ron got up instantly and was just about to yell when Harry stopped him:

"Hey, I didn't overreact when you said you've done… that… with my sister."

Ron stopped. Harry got him. He sat down in his bad again, beaten. He then smiled:

"So… how was it?"

"Well… absolutely fantastic!" Harry was still wishing to run around jumping.

"You're right… no words can describe that…"

The two of them kept talking just a few more minutes when the girls arrived, already dressed:

"Mom's calling for breakfast." The boys dressed quickly and got into the kitchen.

"Good morning everyone!" Ron said, walking to kiss Hermione.

"Morning Ron." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Morning most beautiful girl in this world!" Harry muttered in Ginny's ear. She beamed and kissed her boyfriend.

Harry then noticed that Ginny had a piece of parchment in her hand.

"What's this Ginny?"

"A letter from the ministry." She said, giving the letter to Harry, who read it.

_Dear Miss Ginny Weasley,_

_Due to recent events, the usual apparating practice lessons are going to be held in the Ministry of Magic. If you wish to attend those lessons, please send an owl signed by your parents. Classes start on Monday at 8 a.m._

_Regards,_

_Wilkie Twycross_

_Department of Magical Transportation_

"So you're going to learn to apparate by yourself, are you?" Harry smiled at Ginny while stroking her hair.

"Harry, Ron" Mrs. Weasley started "you two should get your licenses this time. I think that the Ministry is not pressing charges against you two because of recent events. But better do things the right way now, right?"

"Yeah, I agree with you Molly." Harry said.

It was a rather amazing day for Harry and Ginny. After breakfast, they went for a walk together. They were still laughing for no reason.

*****

Monday came somewhat sooner than everyone expected. Everybody at the Burrow woke up early, as Mr. Weasley would take Ginny to start her apparating lessons and Harry and Ron to get their licenses.

"I've just sent Pig with a letter to George telling him we'll be late today." Ron said to Harry as his friend entered the kitchen.

"Good thinking Ron."

They had breakfast and, half an hour later, they went to the ministry through the fireplace.

"So, Kingsley told me to leave you three at the apparition test office." Mr. Weasley said. "Follow me, please."

When the elevator arrived, the voice inside it announced: "Level 8: Atrium". The three Weasleys and Harry entered and so did some memos.

They arrived at the sixth floor and left the elevator. Mr. Weasley led them to the correct office and found Wilkie Twycross there.

"Oh, hello Mr. Weasley." Twycross said.

"Hi" Mr. Weasley said with a smile "My daughter is here to take the apparition lessons and Harry and Ron are here to get their licenses."

"Oh, I see. Miss Weasley may wait here, the other are supposed to be here soon. Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, I have a very special test for you two. Kingsley has filled me in on how you've been apparating all over this year, so the test will be pretty straight-forward, just to show me that you two indeed know how to do it: we'll be apparating to three places: Hogwarts main gates, the Burrow and then back to this room. If everything goes well, you'll be approved."

"Ok. When do we start?" Harry asked.

"Right now if you are ready."

Harry looked at Ron. They both have confidence in their eyes, so they said yes. With a pop, they were in front of Hogwarts. Twycross gave a look around and noticed nothing was left behind. Then, they popped to the Burrow. Again, Twycross noticed they were fine. Finally, they reappeared in front of Arthur and Ginny.

"Oh, I see you two already mastered the three D's! Yes, you are approved!"

Harry looked at Ron and they smiled. It was, indeed, very simple.

"So, we need to fill out some papers about this very different test, so the licenses will be ready tonight." Twycross said.

"Can I get them before I leave work?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, yes Mr. Weasley. That would be fine."

"And what about Ginny?"

"Don't worry about your daughter. All students will go home at 4 o'clock via floo powder."

"Alright then. Well, congratulations boys. Now, I have to go to my office. See you tonight." And he left.

Harry and Ron stayed with Ginny some minutes before leaving. When they entered the elevator, they found Draco Malfoy.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Ron asked, ready to attack Draco.

"Calm down" said someone Ron didn't know "Mr. Malfoy is just attending a meeting with the minister."

Ron's face was in shock.

"You heard it Weasley. Now, will you leave the elevator and listen to what I have to say or behave like a child here?" Malfoy said when the elevator stopped at the atrium.

Ron, a little angry, left with Harry. Malfoy asked his companion to wait for him a little and then went back to Ron and Harry.

"Now, I don't have much time so I'll go directly to the point: my family was forgiven by the ministry. It seems you told him my mother helped you hide you death. Also, we offered to help with the capture of the Death Eaters that escaped the battle."

Ron and Harry were in silence. Their faces indicated the ministry didn't do the right thing in letting the Malfoys escape prison.

"The fact is that I only did what I did to try to save my family. And after all He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did with me, my parents gave up on wanting to serve him. The ministry went to our house some time ago and he told him everything we new about possible place of hiding, who he saw at the battle and everyone that was killed by the Dark Lord. Now my father is trying to persuade them to show themselves so that the aurors can take action."

Malfoy noted that Harry and Ron were still not believing him.

"You don't need to believe it if you don't want. Anyway, I got to go. See you two around." Malfoy walked back to his companion and they left through the fireplace.

"Ron, pinch me. Am I really awake?"

"Yeah, I guess. We'll ask dad about this tonight. Come on, let's tell this to Hermione."

*****

"Malfoy what?" Hermione was as shocked as Harry and Ron.

"Yes, according to what he said, he and his family are helping with the capture of the Death Eaters." Harry said.

"Harry" Hermione said "you said that Narcisa Malfoy helped you in the forest right? Lying to Voldemort…"

"Yes, she did."

"It's hard for me to believe it too, but it's seems logical: the Malfoys helped you save us all and now the ministry is saving the Malfoys."

"Looking at this angle, you're right."

"Well" Ron said "we'll ask dad more about this when he arrives home, right? Now, let us tell you, we passed the apparition test!"

"Really? Congratulations!" Hermione jumped to kiss her boyfriend and hug Harry. They told her about the exam and then left for the joke shop.

At night, Harry, Ron and Hermione were filling Ginny in about the conversation with Draco and Ginny was telling them how difficult it was to apparate.

"Don't worry" Ron said "no one in our classes managed to do it in the first day."

"So Ginny, how many people where there?" Harry asked.

"Oh, there were a lot of people. I didn't count but there were no less than fifty. There were students from my year at Hogwarts and there were some people of age that were doing the course now that everything is fine."

When Arthur Weasley arrived, he was called immediately to the living room by Ron.

"What's the matter Ron?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Dad, do you know about the Malfoy's situation?"

Mr. Weasley clearly didn't expect this question.

"How do you two know about the Malfoys?"

"So you know. Why didn't you tell us?" Ginny asked.

"Ok, I know. How did you discover this anyway?"

Harry and Ron told Mr. Weasley about their conversation with Draco Malfoy.

"So, I really don't know that much more than you do. I just know that the Malfoys are really looking forward to help the ministry. I believe you can trust what Draco said. Also, the reason I didn't tell you is because almost no knows about it. If this information goes to the Daily Prophet, people would surely want the Malfoys to be arrested."

"Arthur's right" Mrs. Weasley said, joining them in the living room "people don't know that Narcisa Malfoy helped you Harry."

"Correct Molly dear." Mr. Weasley continued "The ministry plans on telling this to the world when the first Death Eaters that escaped from the Battle of Hogwarts are caught. To give the Malfoys a good image, you know."

After that, the subject was dropped, but Harry and Ron still weren't convinced. They were not ready to accept that the Malfoys, the family that served the Dark Lord twice and even faked their loyalty to the ministry, were now actually helping them. But, as Ginny said, Harry was not the only one allowed to have a new life.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Thanks to Ravenclaw85 for the Beta Reading.


End file.
